For many consumers, the first time they think about where the products they buy come from – and who has had a hand in producing them – is in the wake of a national scandal. When Apple users discovered that workers had committed suicide due to poor working conditions in vast tech Chinese factories, they paused for thought. When shoppers discovered that high street supermarkets had stocked products containing horsemeat labelled as beef, it exposed the amount of trust that consumers place in the companies they buy from every day.
So what does transparency mean to British consumers? Do customers behave differently if they are given more information about the provenance of the products they are interested in buying? And how are businesses responding to demands for transparency?
Join our panel of experts on Monday 3 March from 12.30pm til 2pm to discuss transparency and how to strive for better ways of doing business. We'll look at how customers understand products and services, and how companies are getting to know their own products better through careful management of their supply chains. We'll also ask how the drive for transparency and sustainability affects marketing and pricing, and how businesses choose the products they offer.
Expert panel
Safia Minney - founder and CEO of People Tree.
Ryan D. Jacobs - general manager, Ten Thousand Villages Canada.
Martyn Leadbeater - sales director, Advanced Supply Chain.
Dr Karen Hetherington - systems manager, Fullwell Mill
Rob Myers - managing director, marketing, Ipsos MORI
Ashish Deo - director of commercial relations, Fairtrade Foundation
Lisa Hoyle - technical director, group food sourcing, Tesco
How to join
The live chat is completely text-based and will take place on this page in the comments section below, kicking off on Monday 3 March at 12.30pm (GMT). You can submit any questions by tweeting them to @GuardianSustBiz using #askGSB and we'll put them to the panel on the day. You can also use the form below to submit your question in advance.
This content is brought to you by Guardian Sustainable Business in association with the Fairtrade Foundation. All editorial controlled and overseen by the Guardian.
